House of Lords: Foreign Language Training

Lord Bassam of Brighton: The House Committee agreed at its meeting on 18 July 2006 to establish a scheme for the provision of free foreign language training for Members. Details of the scheme appear in the new edition of the Members' Guide to Expenses published today.
	The scheme is similar to that provided by the House of Commons. Members may recover the cost of attending foreign language classes provided by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The language course consists of an initial registration followed by 10 consultations. Members seeking reimbursement must obtain prior approval from the Clerk of the Parliaments and indicate how the course would help the Member in the performance of their parliamentary duties. Members will be required to confirm that all classes have been attended before reimbursement will be made.

Tax Credits

Lord Davies of Oldham: My right honourable friend the Paymaster General (Dawn Primarolo) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) made a ruling in Strasbourg on 14 November on the case of Tsfayo v The United Kingdom (application number 60860/00).
	Ms Tsfayo's case concerned a dispute regarding her entitlement to housing benefit and whether she was afforded a fair hearing of her appeal by an independent and impartial tribunal as set out in Article 6(1) of the ECHR. The ECtHR held that the lack of an independent and impartial first instance tribunal could not, in that particular case, be remedied by judicial review.
	In contrast, tax credits provide for a right of appeal against a decision on entitlement, and therefore an opportunity to challenge the amount of any overpayment that has arisen, or the determination of a penalty or a decision that interest should be charged on an overpayment of tax credit. These appeals are to the Unified Appeals Tribunals, which are independent and impartial to HMRC and therefore the provisions of Article 6(1) ECHR are satisfied.
	Unlike a decision regarding entitlement to tax credits, HMRC's decision to recover an overpayment under Section 28 of the Tax Credits Act is not a determination of civil rights and obligations within Article 6(1) of the ECHR. Even if it were however, in seeking to recover an overpayment, HMRC is exercising a discretionary power and an appeal against such a decision by way of judicial review would fully satisfy the provisions of Article 6(1) of the ECHR.
	A claimant does have the right to dispute the recovery of an overpayment by way of an internal review by the Tax Credit Office. In addition, they can ask either the adjudicator or, through their Member of Parliament, the Parliamentary Ombudsman to consider the handling of their case. The ECtHR ruling has no adverse implications for tax credits.